The Classifiles: Ike's Missing Support Conversations
by Setax
Summary: Ever wanted to see what Ike's relationship was with the other Greil Mercenaries? Well, now you can! See behind the scenes of the Greil Mercenaries and join Ike as he forges bonds among his ragtag group of mercenaries! Will he find love? Friendship? Read to find out! (Current: Mia)
1. Jill Rank C

**A/N: **Hey guys, second ever fic! As the title and summary suggest, this'll be based around Ike's supports with characters that weren't included in the game. Based around Awakening support conversations. NOTE: S Rank for women will be marriage/courting, whichever seems to fit more, and S Rank for guys will be the "best bro" type of endings. Each chapter will cover one rank for one character. Another thing, I have yet to play Radiant Dawn, but will plan on doing so soon, so if something seems out of place it could be that I haven't seen enough context. Now that the intro is done, let's get on with the fic!

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**Jill Support Rank C**

It was yet another day at the Greil Mercenary base camp. Everything seemed right in the world: Mia was jumping around the camp asking to spar with whomever would accept, the green haired triplets were arguing with each other about whose style was better, Oscar being the median of Boyd and Rolf, and the rest were in the mess hall getting their lunch. Ike awoke in a daze; the previous night before the sporadic mercs had been fending off a legion of bandits attempting to ransack a nearby village. Much to Ike's dismay, he retained quite a few injuries, most of which continued to disturb the blue-haired mercenary in the morning.

Ike quickly disembarked from his makeshift bed, and groggily got up. He fastened his usual armaments to himself: a leather shoulder pad, his steel arm guard, and his headband. While doing so, Ike grunted in pain, the wounds from last night sustaining its bothersome sting. After completing the arduous task of dressing himself, he retrieved a regal sword from his wooden chest in the corner, handling it with great care. It had not been long since his father passed away, and Ike had no intention of forgetting it, carefully keeping Greil's passed down belongings with care. He sheathed the regal sword into its leather container at his side, and move through the tent flaps to assess his camp.

The cold breeze immediately hit Ike's face, his hair blew in the wind and became messy as usual. He descended the hill on which his tent rested upon, and made for the barracks. Upon opening the door, he saw almost all of his companions happily enjoying their lunch, taking advantage of their much needed rest from combat. He smirked in response, and headed for his office to finish off some paperwork Soren had been bothering him about.

Making his way down the hallway, he saw the new recruit that aided Ike's team against the laguz pirates a couple of weeks back. He wrapped his hand around his chin, trying to recall her name.

'Hmmm, what was it again... Jill? Yes... that sounds about right'.

Despite forgetting her name, he could not forget her previous employment: a wyvern rider for the Daein army. Ever since the murder of his own father by a Daein general, Ike could never forgive the Daeins for their sick crimes and discrimination toward the other nations. He wanted her away from the camp, and as far as possible.

"Good morning, Jill", Ike announced in a very monotone fashion.

Jill immediately turned to face her new commander, her red ponytail flapping about as she did so.

"Hello commander, it's good to see you."

"Why are you still here? We greatly appreciate your help, but we have no desire to let you stay. You are, of course, our enemy, and we prefer if our enemies didn't sleep 10 feet away from us", Ike coldly responded.

Jill closed her eyes, giving herself a few moments to think of a proper response, and answered back "I want to stay here to learn what the Daeins refused to teach us. Ever since the battle on the ship, I've noticed that not all laguz are evil, the way those dragon laguz helped you shocked me. I... want to become one of you."

"We have no desire to harbor our own enemy! You Daeins have done nothing but harm others and have done little to prove to me otherwise!" Ike yelled back.

Jill was taken aback by Ike's outburst, she looked at the ground for a second, and yelled in response "No! I refuse to leave without knowing what the actual world is like! Ever since we were born, we were taught that laguz were evil beings, and that any ally to them is an enemy. After seeing you fight bravely along side them, I've come to realize that what we were taught may not have been true. Please, at least let me pursue my own truths before you throw me out!"

Ike clenched his teeth at her response, and was lost in thought about what to do. Should he really let a Daein soldier stay with him, possibly endangering his friends, or should he throw her out, going against every moral his father had taught him.

They both stared at each other, hoping the other would back down. After a few moments, Ike had finally come to a conclusion.

"Very well, I will allow you to stay, but on one condition: you play a game of tactics with me. We'll each have a separate army to command, and I'll assess you on the outcome."

"I only have to play right?" she asked in response.

"Yes, no matter the outcome, I will allow you to stay to learn our customs and way of living. The game is merely to decide how I personally should treat you and how my companions will as well."

Jill smirked at him, "Hmph, challenge accepted."

Ike nodded back at her, and led her into the war room.

* * *

Ike opened the ironclad door to the war room. Here, Soren and Ike planned their coming battles. The room was filled with bookshelves on strategy, human behavior, and synopsis on each nation and its history. In the middle was a table with a map placed on top. Symbols dotted the map from top to bottom, making clear indications on whether or not it was terrain and what kind was it.

They both strolled into the room, and Ike motioned Jill to sit across the table from him. He placed intricate figurines on the table, each indicating the unit it corresponded to. Soon after, the map was decorated with mounted flyers, knights, swordsman, etc. Upon closer inspection, Jill noticed that her side at considerably more units than Ike's did.

"Hey, what gives, why do I have so many more units than you do?" Jill interrogated him.

"It's part of the assessment," Ike said in a smug manner, "ready to begin?"

Jill nodded back.

"Very well, let the games begin!"

* * *

Some time had passed, and the game had changed dramatically from what Jill originally expected.

Her units had been absolutely decimated by Ike's small force, and she was completely unsure why this was the case.

Ike made a mental note in his mind about what his father had taught him when he was younger, 'In life, we may be able to hide our faces and personalities with common facades, but in battle, your true nature comes out.'

Through out the battle, Ike noticed that Jill was sending in her laguz to take the brunt of the damage first, most of which couldn't transform for the first few turns. He quickly dispatched them and moved on to the forces she kept alive.

Seeing her forces so easily decimated, she panicked and sacrificed more units with stubborn decisions. The battle quickly came to a close when Ike slayed her enemy commander with his own.

Ike let out a sigh of relief, even with his victory, the match was hard fought and close.

"That concludes our match, it was a good battle, but you quickly lost your cool and your treatment of your units clearly show your lack of care. You may leave now."

Jill became flustered and her face flushed red. Never before had someone defeated her in combat; albeit it was theoretical combat, but still. She was also embarrassed that someone could read her tactics and habits so easily.

With the game concluded, she quickly got out of the seat and left the room without a word, still flustered.

Ike leaned back in his chair, tilting it so it was resting on its two hind legs. He contemplated on the match, 'Her usage of units was non-optimal, yet she gave me that much trouble beating her. Hmmmm... Maybe I haven't given her enough credit.'

Ike sat back up and proceeded to gather up the game pieces and put them in a wooden strongbox on the table. After everything was cleaned up, he left the room.

'I probably shouldn't have been so hard on her, I should go apologize tomorrow.'

Turning off the lamp light, Ike intended to join his friends at dinner. At the door, he briefly stopped for a moment, 'Why am I still thinking about her? Oh well, probably should go talk to her about it later.'

And with that ending thought, he closed the door shut, and walked down the candlelit hallway.

**Jill Support Rank C Acquired!**

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**A/N: **And with that ends the first chapter! This fic will be updated hopefully by a week from this release date, but with school starting soon I can't say that it will happen for sure, it might take a little longer. Another note, sorry if the characters are a little OOC if you think so. Please make sure to review so I can improve my writing, it's greatly appreciated! With that final comment, I bid you adieu.


	2. Jill Rank B

The makeshift camp the mercenaries had erected was bustling. From the sky, one could see several of the members combating with the training dummies meant to keep their skills honed, as well as a few others engaging in non-combat hobbies, such as books or training in the way of the pen. In the middle of the encampment, a large tent was put up to be the mess hall for everyone to grab lunch. As wave upon wave of familiar faces flooded into the tent to get their much needed nourishment, several others were absent.

"Geesh, he'sh shtill not awake?" Mia questioned, or at least sounded like one as she was wolfing down the stew Oscar made.

"Unfortunately, our young commander has taken it to himself to... skip his morning escapades." Titania commented with a hint of disappointment. She sighed at the thought of their flourishing young leader still skipping the mornings like he used to.

"Well, what are we going to do?" Mia put down her spoon, indicating that she was fully attentive now.

"Heh, don't worry, I already sent 'mom' to go wake him up." Titania put a smile that, while heavenly looking, was filled with a underlying tone of evil.

Finally getting what she meant, Mia couldn't help but smirk back at her. Afterwards, the two turned back to their ignored and almost cold lunch and began to consume it.

* * *

"Hey, wake up. Wake up. WAKE UP ALREADY!"

'THWACK'

"Huh?! We under attack?! Everyone, group up in the middle of camp!" Ike practically stumbled his way out of bed, making sure to quickly put on his gear and grab his sword before he tripped when he turned and came crashing down. "Oof..."

Ike, still recovering from his rude awakening, laid back and stared at the blackened figure above him. As his vision returned, he sighed as he finally realized who it was.

"Took you long enough." Soren was leaning on what Ike inquired was one of Rhys's old staves.

"Did you really have to knock me upside the head?" Ike asked, getting up while feeling the almost immediately noticeable bump on his head.

"YES, it's because you're apparently too irresponsible to get up on your own!" Soren took another jab at Ike's sides with the stick, cause Ike to slowly turn away from him. "Now hurry up and go get lunch, your friends are waiting."

"Yes mom..."

As Ike stepped outside his tent, he took a moment to adjust his eyes to the unwelcoming glare of the sun. He put an arm to cover most of the sunlight from hitting his face, and made way to the mess hall tent. Along the way, he took mental notes of his troops. He noticed most of them were tired, exhausted from the march onto the Daein capital. He understood that most of the soldiers under his direct command were nothing but simple farmers and craftspeople, save his own band of mercenaries; Crimea for the most part was a royal nation, lacking in military strength and favoring a powerful nobility. Ike was lost in thought at this point, thinking of ways he could end this war as soon as possible. He wasn't sure how he was gonna do it, but he was gonna get them all back home.

Ike finally arrived at the mess hall tent, and was greeted by Oscar who was readying him a bowl of his delicious stew. As Ike took a seat next to Mia and Titania, he made sure to give a glare to Boyd across the room, seeing as he was getting a bit too friendly with his adorable little sister. He was then interrupted by Titania, who was looking to break his train of thought before he could run across the room to unleash hell upon Boyd.

"Hey Ike, where's that new girl we brought in a couple of weeks ago, Jill, right?"

"Oh, hmm. She's probably still a little mad at me..." Ike said, putting less stress on the latter half of his statement.

"Well, you should go apologize to her! Even if she was once part of the Daein army, she's one of us now. You have to accept the fact that sometimes in life, you'll have to work with people you don't want to. Here..." Titania paused her speech to go up to Oscar and retrieve two bowls of stew. She handed both of them to him, "take her lunch to her and make sure you apologize, okay?"

"Hmmm, I suppose I should. Very well, I'll go apologize to her. Thanks for the advice." Ike left with a smile as he got up from the table to deliver Jill her lunch.

When Ike left out of earshot from Mia and Titania, the purple haired sword master couldn't help but give a smug look, "Looks like Ike's got girl problems."

Titania giggled at the thought of Ike getting together with... well, anyone really. "I guess so, hopefully Ike will learn a thing or two from that girl. I can tell she's been through a lot, and Soren and I can't keep scolding Ike for his wrongdoings."

"You don't think they'll, you know, be a "thing" right?"

"Of course not." Titania concluded, but with a hint of doubt in both of their minds.

* * *

Ike was staring into the Jill's tent flap. Surprisingly, he was nervous. 'Of course I would be nervous, I've never been to a girl's room after all...' Ike answered to himself. He took a deep breath before he rustled the entrance of the tent in hopes she would notice. A minute had passed, and nothing happened. He was already getting a bit anxious.

That is, until he heard a large roar come from behind the tent.

Ike ran to the backside of the tent, habitually still holding both bowls in his hand. There, he saw Jill patting her wyvern, it letting out a satisfied growl every couple of seconds. Ike let out a sigh of relief, finding out it was no big deal, and approached her.

"Good morning Jill." Ike called out to her, in his as-per-usual stoic attitude.

"Hardly morning, is it commander?" She answered with a smile on her face before returning to the dragon beside her.

"Heh, I suppose so. I came to bring you lunch." He sat down on the bench next to her and handed her a bowl. She thanked him, and they both began to dig in.

After a couple of minutes, Ike decided it was time he apologized, "Hey, Jill. I just wanted to say I'm sorry for how I treated you a couple of days back. You're one of us now, and I realize that I shouldn't have yelled at you back then, nor should I have been so harsh in the game we played. I hope that, before the day is over, we could be friends?" Ike ended his sentence with a question, noticing the small tint of red on the wyvern rider's face that distinctly matched the color of her armor.

She took a couple of seconds to recoil the hit she just took from Ike. Jill had been so taken aback from his apology that she practically just stared into his eyes. After realizing how long she had been staring into him, she looked down at her bowl and answered, "Of course we can Ike. In fact, you're the first person to really want to be my friend, when I was younger all we had to do everyday was train and fight, we were soldiers when we could first walk. We had no time to converse with friends, and I had barely enough time get to know my classmates. It makes me happy to know that you accept me for who I am. I'm really glad you came here today Ike." She finally concluded, with a smile that looked like it could practically melt his heart.

Ike was practically in a daze at this point. The stoic bluenette had been entranced in her radiant smile before he was knocked out of his trance when she turned to him to retort him once more.

"And don't you think about beating me again! I won't go down so easily this time!" Jill added, with a smile still plastered on her face.

"Tch, you think you can beat me?! I'm surprised you could even think about it!" Ike retorted back, giving a smile that mirrored hers.

They both shared a competitive look on their faces for a few moments before they both broke out into laughter. Jill was practically going to fall from the bench, but then she heard her wyvern approach from behind her. Ike ceased to laugh when he noticed that the sun was no longer shining behind him, but rather a large being was casting a shadow upon him. In one swift motion, the wyvern bit Ike's collar and lifted him up, suspending him from the ground.

"H-hey, what's going on here?! Jill! Get me down from here!" Ike said, flailing his arms and legs trying to get off the green scaled flier. Jill was almost tearing up on the ground, taking a knee and putting an arm around her stomach to stabilize herself before she could comment back.

"Haha, I think she likes you!"

"This isn't funny Jill, get me down! As your commander, I order you to get me down!" Ike had a fully flushed face right now, still flailing his limbs about. He was about to die of embarrassment before the wyvern dropped him on the ground, causing Ike to give a 'oof' before the wyvern continued her attack and pushed it's snout onto his chest. The attack continued for a minute or so before Ike managed to stand up again after struggling against the wyvern. He gave a furious look at her, his face completely flushed red from being embarrassed by a wyvern in front of a girl. Jill finally recovered from her laughing fit, and sat up on the bench, putting her hands together in front of her face and giving a apologetic look at Ike.

"Ha ha... I'm so sorry Ike, but that was just too funny."

Ike continued to give her "the look" before he sighed, finally accepting his defeat, and began to leave the premises before Jill called out to him.

"Hey Ike!" He turned toward her general direction, "I'll see you around, okay?" He gave her a warm smile and nodded back before continuing his walk back to the command tent. Along the way, he smiled to himself, only thinking:

'Well, I think that went well.'

After returning to the command tent, he saw both Titania and Soren ready to plan out their next attack on the Daein borders.

Soren and Titania each lifted a brow at Ike, who looked almost ten times happier than he usually was.

**Jill Support Rank B Acquired!**

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**A/N:** Hey guys! Finally got rank B done. I struggled a lot in writing this chapter, and it shows through how awkward I think Jill and Ike's conversation was. The goal of this one was to make sure Jill and Ike have some sort of emotional connection before I drop the heavy stuff on both of them in rank A and S. I already have a good idea on what to do with rank A and S, so the chapters shouldn't take that long to write. Anyways, thank you for reading! Oh, and make sure to review! It helps me become a better writer and increase the quality of my work, and it motivates me to write! Have a good day!


	3. Jill Rank A

The cold air bit through Ike's thick clothing as the blue-haired lord kept watch over the camp. The mercenary band had recently been able to traverse the guarded borders of the Daein nation and were steadily making distance inward, their destination being the Daein capital. He had halted his army, giving rest to the dreary soldiers that encompassed his army, all of whom were ill-experienced at the art of war.

He let out one final sigh, observing the hot air escaping his mouth as it made contact with the cold air, making a visible stream of steam, and stood up to head back to the encampment center. The nights had been especially cold in the Daein country, electing the camp to take more stops than Ike had wished. As he briskly strolled back to camp, he thought about his current situation.

The army the apostle Sanaki had given him was by no means meager. He was extremely grateful to receive such a gift, and in no way was he disappointed with it, but he couldn't help but feel like it was not enough. Yes, the army was enormous, yes it had been attentive, organized, and performed its tasks with full zeal, but he still had doubts in his mind.

His army had lacked skill. Many of the men and women who embodied his main force had no previous training prior; they were forced to learn the ways of battle along the way. Their skill had paled in comparison to the Daein legionaries, most of whom had training for as long as they could remember.

Ike had felt anxious about the whole thing; could he really win this war? Could he really bring peace back to Tellius? Could he restore Crimea to its original splendor? He pondered over such questions, but finding no definitive answer to each. He had been comforted by many of his friends about his anxiety, but he only took solace with the redhead wyvern rider, Jill.

Ah, yes. Jill. Ike had taken it upon himself to meet with Jill every single day since his apology, spending meals with her and finding great comfort with her presence. Over time, he felt like he could be vulnerable around her, slowly shedding off that stoic skin he always put up. Ever since he inherited the Greil Mercenaries, he felt as if he needed to be a role model, to be as strong and as level-headed as his father had been in order to keep the group together. However, when Ike was with Jill, he felt like he could be "real", as if the entire war was but a dream, and that he was just another man conversing with another woman.

Ike had toyed around the idea of a relationship with her, but he concluded it was not a truth nor was it a lie, rather, it was an ambiguity that he himself did not yet understand.

Bringing himself back to reality, Ike had arrived at the barracks, where he had hoped to get one last moment of reprieve before the army would continue its arduous journey further inward. Opening the ironclad door, he stepped inside, immediately feeling the comforting heat the fireplace in the middle gave off, and was greeted by his other friends.

"Hey Ike! You were practically gone all day, everything all right?" Boyd approached Ike, giving a strong slap on the back before he gave a firm squeeze on his shoulder.

"Yeah, I was just... thinking." Ike hesitated for a moment, wondering if he should disclose further information.

Boyd noticed Ike's hesitation, and chose not to pursue the issue any further, "Ha, hard-working as ever I see! You better watch yourself, or you might just slip up and lose to your rival!" Boyd pointed to himself with his thumb while giving a big dumb smile.

Ike couldn't help but smile, if there was one thing that never changed, it was Boyd's obsession with being better than him, "And who do you think has more wins under his belt eh? You better watch yourself too, or else you might fall on your butt again like you did last time."

They both shared a hearty laugh with each other, it was times like these that helped Ike cope with his overwhelming responsibilities.

"Hey Ike, you know that Jill girl? I think something's wrong with her," Ike's face flared up instantly, "she's been silent and just sitting in her room all day, and refuses to speak a word to anyone else, not even Mist. You might want to go talk to her, she seems more open to you."

"Yeah, I think I will, thanks Boyd." He gave Boyd a smile and a pat on the back before he set off to speak with Jill.

He had a sinking feeling in his stomach, having a good idea what was wrong with her.

* * *

The young lord scanned each door in the barrack's hallway, looking for the one that belonged to Jill. At the end of his venture, he spotted her door at the end of the hallway. Satisfied, he gave three stern knocks on the door. For a moment, nothing had happened, which only made him all the more nervous. After several moments had passed, the door was opened only a few inches.

"Yes, who is it?"

"It's Ike, I want to talk to you."

"..."

Ike stood silently for a few seconds until the door was slowly opened fully. Letting himself in, he gently closed the door behind him, and looked around the room. It was unexpectedly simple. The room contained only a desk, a bookshelf, and a single person bed, all of which were kept neatly. He saw Jill sit on the side of the bed, her head was slightly down and she had a look of solemn. He rested his sword and gear at the entrance, and sat next to her.

They both sat quietly for a few moments, the air getting tenser as each one went by.

"Jill, what's wrong, everyone's worried to death about you, including me. Come on, you can tell me, were friends right?" Ike stated, finally breaking the silence.

He put an arm around her shoulders and gave them a reassuring squeeze, ensuring that he was only here to listen and help.

She gave a deep sigh, "It's just... it's about our next stop. You know we'll be fighting my father, right? I... I just don't know if I can do it. What if I hesitate? One of us could get harmed, injured, or even killed! The last thing I want is to be a burden on you all."

"Nonsense. Ever since you joined us you have done nothing but help us find our paths. If you think no one else appreciates you being here, let me be the first one to say it: I'm glad that we met. Every day I look back at this war and wonder if I can truly achieve what we all set out to do; doubts constantly plague my mind, but you are the only one that keeps pulling me back to reality. You support me every day, and... I just wanted you to know that I care about you, and that no matter what happens tomorrow, my perception of you won't change. You're one of the only things that get me out of bed every day, and the least I could do is return the favor."

Tears began to well up on Jill's eyes; she was so touched that someone would think about her this way. She couldn't help but feel that Ike had always been the person she was looking for, someone to accept her no matter what mistakes she had made.

A big, bright smile appeared on her face as she looked up to Ike. She leaned her head on his shoulder, finding great pleasure in his presence.

She slowly began to drift off into sleep, finding Ike's shoulder very comfortable. The blue-haired merc gave a light chuckle at this, and begun to tuck her into bed. After removing her armor and storing it in a strongbox in the corner, he carried her bridal style into bed, where he pulled the covers over and took one last look at her.

Jill looked completely at peace, with a slight grin on her face she let out small snores every now and again, and Ike couldn't help but think how beautiful and cute she looked. With a smile, he set off and took his armor under the crook of his arm, and turned off the lamp. Giving one last glance back at her, he had only one thought.

'Yeah, everything's gonna be alright.'

* * *

"Damn, I didn't think they'd flood their own land!"

" Yeah, they're pretty unpredictable. Huh... IKE LOOK OUT!"

Boyd sprinted ahead and tackled Ike to the ground, effectively dodging a fireball that was barreling straight for him. They both got up and stabilized themselves, "Thanks Boyd."

"No problem man, c'mon, we gotta get to the floodgates and close'em."

Ike and Boyd both turned their heads and nodded to each other before continuing their sprint upwards to the fort.

The mercenaries finally made it to Talrega, only to be stopped by a large flood blocking their advance. They investigated, only to find out that the Daein army commanded by one of the Four Riders, Shiharam, had ordered its troops to open the river's floodgate. The flood would cause many local landowners to suffer, but the temporary halt of the Crimean army would be worth it. Ike and his tactician Soren quickly devised a plan to close the floodgates, but the real challenge was getting to the top of the hill where it was located.

As Ike and Boyd quickly ascended the mountain, three cavaliers appeared from the side and began their attack on the duo. Boyd quickly caught one of their lances in between his axe blade and hilt and turned it, effectively disarming the rider. After crippling the horse, he quickly finished off his opponent and turned to the two others.

"Hey Ike! I got these two, you go on ahead, I'll catch up!"

"Gotcha," Ike gave an affirmative nod and continued his trek. Overhead he spotted several enemy wyvern riders readying their weapons to chop off the lord's head, but suddenly several arrows began to jut out of the wyverns' chest. He turned, while still running, to see that Astrid was riding alongside him covering him. He smirked, 'Man, at this rate I won't get any action.'

Ike finally made it to the top of the hill, letting out several huffs and noticing that Astrid had broken away from him to back up Soren and Illyana. He looked forward and spotted the fort that controlled the water gates. His stride quickly turned into a sprint as he made his way for the doorway, only to be stopped by a giant wyvern landing and blocking his path. The rider was much more unique than the others, forgoing a helmet and revealing his short, and oddly familiar red hair.

"You're the enemy general, right? You don't look like the others." Ike pointed his blade at the rider.

"I am." The general remained stern, revealing no emotion in his face.

"I lead the Crimean army. My name is Ike. I know this is sudden, but can we end this battle?" Ike lowered his blade so it was now resting at his thigh.

"What?" The stoic general quickly flaring up at the proposition.

"I'd like you to shut off the floodgates. There's no need to involve the locals is there?"

"... I'm sorry, but I can't do that. Until one of us falls, the water must remain flowing." Ike noticed, even if it was just for a brief moment, the general was showing a face of contempt.

"Can't change your mind?" Shiharam gave one lost shake of his head. "Very well, it seems only one of us will leave here alive." Ike readied his blade with both is hands, firmly gripping it.

"Ha! Do all Crimeans have such manners as yourself? If you are the man you appear to be, I know that Jill will be safe."

'No... it can't be.'

"How do you know about Jill?!' Ike yelled, slightly lowering his guard.

"Heh, I can see the passion in your eyes, Ike. You care deeply about her. But enough talk." Shiharam pulled his tomahawk from behind his back and wielded it with one hand, his other on the reins, "I, Shiharam Fizzart of the Daein Army, engage you in combat!"

The wyvern rider quickly reined his beast and started to hover off the ground before shooting off at an incredible speed, catching Ike offguard. He barely had enough time to duck, dodging the tomahawk from beheading him but still got clipped in the shoulder from the wyvern's wings. He winced in pain as he got up, and prepared for the second run.

The wyvern swiftly made a roundabout and went in for a second attack. This time, Ike managed to roll out of the way this time completely avoiding the attack, but unable to do any damage to the pursuer.

'Damn, I won't win if I just keep dodging, I gotta predict its movements.'

Shiharam commanded his wyvern to fly high off the ground, where he then proceeded to swoop down on the blue-haired lord. Ike made sure to pay special attention to the wyvern's behavior.

'Heh, gotcha.'

As the wyvern swooped down, Ike skillfully dodged into the wing's blind spot, ducked, and then proceeded to cleave it's wing almost in half. It let out a gruesome cry before it it crashed into the side of the fort, throwing off its rider who now lay on his back on the ground. Ike rushed over, and with one fell motion, skewered the Daein rider with his sword straight through the chest.

"'cough' Heh, I guess you win this one." Ike remained focused, unchanged by the comment and still grasping his blade, "Listen to me, I want you to take care of Jill... You seem like a respectable man." He took his right hand and gripped it on the blade still inside his chest, ignoring the blood now running down his gauntlet, "Please... I won't be there for her. She needs someone like you." Ike nodded in response, keeping his stoic expression.

"Thank you..." Shiharam softened his grip, his arm falling to the ground. He slowly closed his eyes, letting peace take him.

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to the two duelers, Jill had been watching in the distance, completely ignoring the battle at hand and watched as the two people she cared about most fought to the death. When her father fell to Ike's blade, her face turned despondent, and muttered one word under her breath.

"Father..."

* * *

Hours had passed since the battle concluded; no one sustained fatal injuries, well, none that couldn't be solved with quick work from a staff at least. After shutting off the floodgates, the Greil Mercenaries personally met with the locals to provide aid. Surprisingly, the local Daeins didn't accept any help whatsoever. Ike couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt as he saw a mother deny her son food just because it was given to him by a Crimean knight. He sighed, and strolled back to camp; he couldn't force the families to receive help, nor could he sit back and watch them suffer.

As the commander returned to camp, he was silently greeted by his friends; he could see the look on their faces, they too were shaken up by the ordeal. It was war, after all. War needed casualties. He understood this, but still believed that it could have been prevented. He needed to end the war quickly, or else more civilians would get hurt.

Reaching the center of the camp, he spotted a fire pit with his friends sitting around it. Ike took a seat on a log next to Mist, who had a look of melancholy. He took a quick look around, and noticed everyone else did the same. Ike aimlessly stared into the fire in the middle, trying to give himself a moment of reprieve.

A few moments passed, and no one shared a word with another. Ike leaned back and gave one last sigh before he took a look around camp. He was worried that a certain redhead was taking it far worse than he was. The bluenette spotted her sitting on a hill overlooking the food plains, and got up and ventured to her.

* * *

Ike carefully walked up behind Jill, unsure of whether or not she had heard him coming. When he got close, she remained undeterred. The bluenette set himself down right next to her and looked around. It was beautiful; the hill had a perfect view of the food plains, and was directly facing the horizon where he could see the sun start to set. The sunset made the light around them turn orange; he had to admit, this would be romantic if they hadn't just come out from a battle.

They both sat in silence, neither of them taking the initiative. Time had passed, and Jill ended up speaking first.

"We... we won, right? I should be happy... I should be..." Jill spoke with a quiver and sounded like she was about to break into tears.

She kept looking at the food plain beneath the hill, unsure of how Ike would respond.

"Yeah, we should be, but it's not that simple Jill." She turned to him, hoping for him to continue. "Everyday, many of us lose our lives protecting the ones we love. The same could be said for them," Ike glanced over to where the Daein corpses were being hauled into a wagon; a burial would have to come later. "And while we should be happy that we came out victorious, we can't forget the people we cared about that gave their lives to get us to where we are now. When my father died, I spent the entire night of his death practically holed up in my room, refusing to speak with anyone. I needed time to cope with the pain, and you should have that time too. So just for today, forget about the war. Forget about everything else, this time is just for you."

She took a moment to recover from his statement before she spoke again, "Thank you... Ike." Tears were visibly flowing down her face, but she did her best to give a smile.

The lord turned and wiped the tear streaks with his right thumb, the wyvern rider slowly closing her eyes and leaning into his hand. After he was finished, she spoke once more.

"Then please...," Jill collapsed into Ike's arms, her head buried into his chest. She wrapped her arms around his large frame, practically holding on for dear life, "stay with me tonight. I need someone with me, I need... you."

Ike was taken aback for a second, giving a look of surprise as he looked down at her. He smirked at her, "Yeah, I will. I won't go anywhere, tonight is just for you." He closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around her, gently rubbing her back. She began to bawl into his chest right now, he could feel his shirt getting wet but didn't mind it.

Moments had passed before Ike reopened his eyes. The sky had turned from a shade of orange to a black hue, the moon was absent and the stars remained to illuminate the night. He looked up and stared into the hundreds of stars that appeared tonight, wondering if each one was someone watching over him. He gently removed Jill, who had fallen asleep. The commander gently put her head onto his lap, acting as a pillow. She looked peaceful, almost like she wasn't even apart of this whole ordeal. He smiled, and then put a hand on her cheek, feeling the heat radiating from it. He brushed her hair with his left hand, feeling the silky smooth material that Ike always felt was beautiful. The lord took a moment to truly appreciate her beauty, before he looked forward at the quiet night, lost in thought.

'I won't let her suffer anymore, no matter what, I will protect her. After all,'

He stole one last glance at the sleeping beauty,

'I need her as much as she needs me.'

**Support Rank A Acquired!**

* * *

**A/N: **And there's chapter three! The week's been hard on me; school sucks, getting sick sucks, having to deal with moving sucks, but I hope you guys didn't wait too long and sorry that the update came really late. I have a pretty good idea of what I want to do for Jill's S Rank, albeit only the outline, I still need to work on the details first. Also, do you guys enjoy these type of chapters? I began this fic with the intention of it being just like the Awakening supports, but found myself going into more detail about the environment and whatnot. Hell, you probably can't even categorize these as "conversations", they're more like four chapter love stories. I was wondering if you guys' prefer these longer chapters, or would you like the short and simple ones? I'm pretty set on just doing the longer chapters, but hey, opinions change.

Anyways, like the chapter? Hate it? Tell me why in reviews! I'm always curious how readers react to my stories, and it helps me understand what I need to work on. Lastly, I hope you guys have a wonderful labor day weekend! See you in the next chapter!


	4. Jill Rank S

The rays of light coming from the sun in the early morning were poking at Jill's tent, infiltrating its interior with the few cuts and holes it received throughout the campaign. Outside, the camp was quiet, everyone opting to take a little longer to get up due to yesterday's incident. Dew was strewn across the grass and floodplains, making the scene almost blinding with the sun showering light upon them. Inside, a certain sleeping beauty would soon have a rude awakening.

The sun was in full form now; signaling the birds to start their morning chorus, waking the rest of the camp. A rip in the tent made light shine directly upon the sleeping beauty, her eyes slowly fluttering open. She sat up for a moment, waiting for her eyes to regain their sight, and rubbed them. Her hair was disheveled, the pin keeping her hair in a ponytail rested on her nightstand, leaving her hair in a red mess that lightly touched the bed. She was wearing a tan t-shirt, and one of the shoulders of it were slowly falling down her arm. She looked around the room and contemplated.

'Did that really happen last night?'

She played back the events of the last couple of days: Ike came to comfort her for the upcoming battle, they fought and defeated her own father, and she had collapsed into Ike's arms and stayed with him all night. A red tint surfaced on her face, along with a small smile.

"I guess I really did show him... 'me'." She announced out loud in a soft voice, talking to no one in particular.

She collapsed back onto the bed, her hair sprayed all over and her arms spread out. Jill raised one arm and put it over her eyes and sighed, then came a smile once more. Her red tint became flushed, and it filled up her cheeks nicely.

'I've fallen for him, haven't I?'

* * *

In the mess hall, the blue-haired lord was silently eating next to Titania, Soren, and Mia who were conversing with each other on matters that didn't particularly interest him. He sat next to Soren, while Titania and Mia sat across them on the wooden table. The rest of the mercenaries were present as well, barring only the one wyvern rider. Ike continually poked at his chicken, thinking about last night.

"Hey, Ike! Are you even listening to me?" Soren nudged Ike's shoulder repeatedly until he came out of his stupor.

"Hmm, oh, sorry Soren. Guess I was a bit preoccupied with my thoughts." Ike immediately straightened up, fully attentive.

The young black mage sighed; he began to wonder if this was some sort of running joke with Ike that he would always dose off at his statements.

"You know, if you love her so much, you should probably confess to her before someone else takes her." Titania pointed out with a wink, while Mia glanced at Titania and back to Ike, and nodded hurriedly.

"Bah, am I really that obvious?"

"YES!" The three others yelled at the same time, making Ike jump a little.

"Well, besides the fact that you've been eating with her every day for the past month, we all saw you last night with her!" Mia stood up on her seat and leaned over the table, pointing at Ike with a big knowing smile.

"I guess I should, I'm just not quite sure when to do it. Curses, my father taught me everything there is to know about the way of the blade, but never taught me about romance!" He dramatically shot up his arms up, then lowered his head onto the table, where he put his hands on his head.

"You know she probably likes you, otherwise she wouldn't put up with you everyday!" Ike scowled at the comment by Mia, " Just tell her how you feel, and everything else will fall into place. Then you'll know how she feels." Mia closed her eyes, and lifted her index finger, giving a knowing look. Ike's face returned neutral, and he thought about it for a minute before he straightened up.

"You're right! I gotta do this, before I lose my chance!" Ike shot up out of his chair and ran out the tent flap, leaving his lunch unattended.

The swordswoman and paladin giggled next to each other, while Soren put his hand on his head, obviously irritated.

"You girls really think Ike will date Jill?" Soren stated, almost like he was tired.

The two girls stopped giggling, and both smiled before Mia cut in, "What, are you jealous?"

'...'

"Shut up."

* * *

Ike ran like the wind, making his way to Jill's tent on the other side of the camp. He steeled his resolve, ignoring any greeting comments by any of the passerby soldiers. As he turned a corner, Jill came into view for an instant before he bumped into her. They both held their heads and winced at the pain in their foreheads, before realizing who they ran into.

"Oh! I'm so sorry Ike, I didn't hurt you did I?"

"No no no! I'm completely fine, it was my fault in the first place, I'm sorry for running around carelessly."

The couple stared at each other, not exchanging any words. Both of them had a lot to say, but didn't know how to convey it. At this point, Ike noticed that Jill wasn't wearing any armor, only leaving her tan t-shirt with short sleeves that accentuated her chest area and pink shorts that reached to her knees. He blushed at the sight. She looked absolutely stunning to him.

"Do you... do you want to just talk about last night? We can walk to the pond nearby, it's quiet and we won't be disturbed." Jill quietly stated, a red tint visibly present on her face.

"S-sure..." Ike rubbed the back of his head, unsure of how to respond, "Oh wait! One sec, lemme change into something more comfortable." He swiftly went to the armory two tents away and took off his blue armaments, leaving the tent thereafter. As soon as he left the tent, Jill's red tint became a full flush when he saw Ike without his armor.

He wore a white shirt, its sleeves coming down to almost his elbows and was tight, accentuating the muscles he obtained through the war. He also wore brown pants, ones that reached perfectly to his heel and were conforming to his figure. What surprised Jill however, was the fact that he decided to forego his headband, which left his hair slightly more messy but nonetheless handsome.

"Ready to go?" Jill finally managed to get the words out of her mouth after practically swooning at him.

"Y-yeah, lead the way."

The pair went into the nearby clearing, setting off on a path Ike wasn't all that familiar with. As they walked through the forest, Ike took a moment to bask in the wondrous effects of the forest. The sun shined bright and was in full effect already, and the couple was shaded with the overarching trees, leaving holes where light escaped to shine upon them. They both walked side to side, not exchanging any words and physical interaction but rather enjoying each other's company.

About ten minutes later, they arrived at the pond. He surveyed the section of the forest, look at the mini waterfall giving the pond its liquid and the gentleness of the scene. Jill sat on a rock on the left side of the pond, reaching out her arm beckoning Ike to sit down. He smiled, then gladly took the seat next to her. They both stared at the pond, watching the fish dart back and forth, catching their morning meal. This continued for a short while, before Jill cut the silence.

"I just wanted to say thank you for last night. I was broken when my father died, but you were there for me. I don't know what I would've done without you." She smiled while still looking at the water. Ike turned to her and was slightly surprised before a smile was revealed.

"Hey, that's what friends do. Seeing you so sad made me feel the same way, and I couldn't leave you like that. You're everything to me Jill, and if anything ever happened to you, I would be the one broken. I want you and me to be friends till the end." She was now looking over into his direction. He raised his right arm and put it around her shoulder, giving her a comforting squeeze. She leaned into him, resting her head on his chest. They stayed like this for what felt like hours, completely cut off from the outside world.

"You know, I wasn't completely telling the truth." Jill looked up at him, confused at the statement, "When I said I wanted us to be friends, I was lying. I don't want us to be friends Jill. I want us to be something much more than that, I want to be with you forever." They stared at each other, completely lost in the moment. Their faces inched forward ever so slowly, getting dangerously close to a kiss.

However, Jill quickly put an index finger on Ike's lips, stopping their advancement toward each other. She closed her eyes and smiled before backing away, leaving Ike mesmerized and slightly hurt.

"There's something I want to show you before we continue." She took Ike's hand into her's, and proceeded to swiftly walk back to camp. It felt weird giving someone else the lead, but Ike welcomed it all the same.

After arriving back at camp, they proceeded to go to the stables. She let go of Ike's hand, and quickly saddled up onto her wyvern, it growling slightly in comfort with the presence of its rider once more. She extended out her hand, enticing Ike to get on board.

"Uh, what are we doing?"

"Come on! It'll be fun!"

He took a moment before grabbing her hand, slightly hesitant to ride a mount. While he did ride Titania's horse when he was younger, a wyvern was a whole different story.

As they saddled up, she spurred the wyvern and it took flight. Ike found himself holding onto Jill far tighter than he was before, slightly afraid of being off the ground. They continued to ascend before they could see the camp and the pond easily, and she flew the wyvern a few miles away from camp. She stopped when they came into view of a large mountain range, then nudged Ike who was looked at the scenery below to look up.

He stared in awe at what he was witnessing; the mountains were partially covering the sun, revealing the snow on top and the waterfall that ran down the middle. In the distance, he spotted birds flying toward it, almost as if it was their destination. The sky grew dark, the only light coming from the slowly descending sun in the distance. His trance was interrupted by Jill.

"So, what do you think? My father took me here when I was younger every few weeks to admire the Daein countryside. I've never shown this to anyone before, and after what you did for me, it felt... right." She continued to look onward, the light illuminating the front of her body. He stared at her, before replying.

"It's perfect. Everything about this, it's perfect."

She looked back to see his warm smile, before realizing what time it was.

"Oh crap, we should probably return before the others get worried." Jill turned the wyvern to the general direction of camp.

"Right, I don't want to incur the wrath of Soren and Titania." Jill laughed at the comment, knowing all too well of the their scolding of Ike on a daily basis. While she started the flight back to camp, she had an idea.

"Hey, wanna do something fun?"

"Like what?" Ike responded, completely unbeknownst to what she was thinking. She turned and gave a grin, before facing the front again and kicked the wyvern. The wyvern suddenly shot off at amazing speed, covering a lot of distance in a short time. Ike was, putting it mildly, extremely surprised, to the point where he was almost screaming.

"H-hey! Can we slow down a bit?! This thing's going waaaay too fast!"

"Hahaha, come on, it's fun!" Her eyes were closed and she was laughing uncontrollably, finding this moment too good to stop.

A few minutes passed, and Jill almost completely forgot the entire reason she brought him up here. After mentally kicking herself, she figured now was better than later.

"Hey Ike! I think I'm in love with you!"

"What?" He looked at her and figured that she was saying something, but couldn't hear her, the wind blowing making it much too difficult for her to be audible.

She was slightly annoyed at first, but a mischievous idea grazed her mind. With one hand still on the reins, she turned and cupped Ike's cheek with the other. After examining him for a second, she pulled him into a kiss. They both closed their eyes leaned into each other, lost in the intimacy.

Jill broke the kiss, and faced forward more energetic than ever. Ike was still dazed by the action, almost looking distanced from the world. His grip on the redhead slightly faltered, and he almost fell before holding onto her tighter than ever.

"H-hey, don't let me go okay?!"

She looked back at him one last time, before uttering the final words of the ride.

"I'll never let you go Ike."

* * *

At camp, Soren, Mia, and Titania were scouring the tents to find Ike and Jill, afraid that something might have happened to them. Exhausted, they returned to the center of the camp, reporting their findings, or rather, lack of. Suddenly, they heard soldiers mobilizing at the call of the scout keeping watch over the camp. The trio looked at each other, nodded, and followed suit.

"Hey, what's going on? Why have you signaled the camp?" Soren interrogated the scout, who huffed after running back to camp.

"I spotted a wyvern sir! It's coming this way!"

"What?!" The three mercenaries and scout looked upwards at the call of a wyvern roar. They all relaxed when they realized it was Jill's wyvern. On closer inspection however, they noticed she was laughing, along with a terrified Ike, who held onto her with a blush on his face.

"Ha! Told you Soren!" Mia triumphantly raised her arm in the air, with Titania giving her a pat on the back.

Soren could not do anything but clench his face with his hand, letting out an extremely audible groan as he made his way back to his tent.

**Jill Support Rank S Acquired!**

* * *

**The Courageous Lord and the Prodigious Flier**

"After the war, Ike and Jill would resign from the Greil Mercenaries, giving leadership to Titania. Instead, they would settle down in the Daein countryside, furthering their relationship. Jill would start a delivery company with Ike, encouraging the blue-haired lord to keep guard over her. They later had a purple haired daughter who, oddly enough, had an affinity with magic."

* * *

**A/N: **Aaaaaaaand there's Jill's support S rank! I know it isn't the whole get married thing like in Awakening, but I thought it was slightly out of place and weird to just go straight into marriage before courting. The chapter itself was awkward I feel, and it played out much better in my head, but I'm still satisfied with out it turned out. Points for improvement: actually planning out the four ranks before just diving straight into it. The first chapter is really out of place, and I'm almost wanting to rewrite it completely, but I'm probably going to keep it anyways for future reference.

Anyways, next person will be another girl. I wanted to do a guy, but I'm having a hard time coming up with the ranks for one so I'm gonna push it back one person. IT'S GONNA BE FOR SURE A GUY AFTER THE NEXT ONE. Back on topic, I've decided upon either Mia, Astrid, or Nephenee for the next one. I have a really cheesy idea for Mia's so I'm on the fence with her's, may or may not go through with it.

You already know the whole review/follow thing, so I won't bother you anymore about it.

EDIT: I took down the chapter temporarily due to one of the paragraphs being randomly deleted. Sorry about that, and if you spot anything like that feel free to message me.


	5. Mia Rank C

**A/N: **Fair warning before you read this particular chapter, I have not played this chapter in such a long time, so some facts may or may not be completely accurate, so just bear with me on this one.

* * *

The sun was as clear as could be, shining down on the radiant forest below. Wildlife were roaming about in the habitat, hoping to prolong their well-being. The overarching trees gave a nice shade that almost blanketed the entirety of the forest, leaving a few holes here and there where sunlight pierced through. In this particular forest however, a certain blue blur could be seen. It moved swiftly, making its way through the clearing as quick as it could. Behind it, a myriad of colors followed suit: orange, black, red, green, brown, and so on. The serenity of the moment was only broken by the roar of the blue.

"Hey Oscar! See any of them?!" Ike managed to huff is way through the sentence, still keeping his fairly swift speed.

"No sign of them, we should regroup in that clearing over there!" Oscar spurred his mount, increasing its speed to scout the forward area.

"Got it! Everyone, follow me!" The rest of the party silently agreed, having trouble keeping up with Ike's speed.

At the clearing, they gathered in the center, where they took refuge for a moment. Mist and Elincia sat on a fallen log, while Boyd and Rhys collapsed on the ground, clearly exhausted from the previous battle and sprint. Titania, Soren, and Ike on the other hand, went off to the side to discuss their next course of action.

"Ike, might I suggest we continue to Gallia? It seems to be the only refuge for Princess Elincia currently, and we're exhausted as is. If we continue to fight, one of us might get injured, or worse."

"Damn, I can't leave Father behind while we're here taking a break!" Ike seemed conflicted at the moment, clearly considering turning back and helping his father, Greil, get to safety. A few moments passed before he finally came to a decision. "I'm not leaving anyone behind, we're going back to get him."

In response, Soren merely nodded, but Ike could sense he very much approved of his decision. Titania smiled and agreed as well, pleased with Ike's choice of helping the others.

"Where should we look first? Your father didn't mention anywhere specific to meet up, just to move forward." Titania put a finger on her chin, giving a contemplating look.

"Hmm." Ike surveyed the area quickly, not finding anything of interest until he spotted something out of place. Near the edge of the clearing, a building was shadowed by some low-hanging trees. "How about we start there? It looks to be a fort, and if Father went anywhere, it'd be there."

Soren and Titania silently agreed. "Alright, everyone, we're going to go back for Greil! Ready up!" Mist and Elincia ran up to Ike, confused upon the matter.

"But Brother! Father said to keep moving to Gallia, what are we going to do about Elincia?"

"I need you to take Elincia to safety up ahead, we'll meet up later, okay?"

Mist obviously looked conflicted at the moment, but then finally conceded to him. "Fine, just make sure you don't get into too much trouble okay?"

The ranger smiled at her approval, "Ha, you know me! Don't worry about it, we'll be in and out real quick, and I promise we'll stay safe."

She smiled and agreed, signaling Ike to continue his mission. "Everyone, fall in, we're heading out!" Before they left for the fort, Ike could see at the corner of his eye Elincia giving some sort of staff to Rhys. He never really did understand what they were or how they worked, but he was sure it was going to be vital sooner or later.

* * *

Inside the run-down fort, the mercenaries glanced around, finding almost nothing of interest.

"Guess they aren't here, we better get a move on soon before the soldiers know what we're up to." Ike stated, and on cue, a Daein lanceman appeared in the left corridor.

"Intruders! Prepare for battle!" As the knight cried out, many more Daein soldiers could be heard coming out of the rooms.

"Damn, so much for my promise." The mercenaries pulled out their weapons, afterwards, Oscar quickly intercepted the charging lanceman and ran him through with his spear. The party retreated to the corner of the corridor to regain their footing.

"Good work Oscar. Alright, here's wh-" Ike heard a noise coming from the corridor near him, and readied his sword. To his surprise, it wasn't a soldier clad in black that appeared, but a purple haired girl in odd clothing wielding a sword.

"Who are you?!" Ike pointed his blade at the woman, unsure if she was friend or foe.

"Hm? Why, hiya there! My name's Mia, would you perhaps be Ike?"

"Yes, that's me."

"Great! Your father Greil asked me to help you guys, he saved me a while back from those Daeins, I'm a merc from Crimea by the way."

"I-I see..." Ike was taken aback by the sudden influx of information he had acquired, but understood that she was an ally on their side. "Very well, you'll be riding with us from now on until further notice."

Mia smiled at his acceptance, and quickly ran over to his side.

"Here's the plan, Titania, you'll go with Rhys and cover our left, Oscar, Boyd, and Soren will cover the right side. Mia, you're with me. We're heading straight down the middle and making sure that no soldiers flank the rest of us."

Everyone agreed, and proceeded with his or her partners and headed out. As Ike and Mia set off to the first room, she ran and caught up to Ike.

"Wow, five minutes have passed and you're already gonna try to hit on me?" She had a devilish smile on her face, one that indicated that she was not to be trusted quite yet.

"W-what?" A red tint appeared on the ranger's face, electing a laugh from the swordswoman.

"Haha, you're face is all red! It was just a joke, lighten up! Now come on, or else there won't be any left for you!" Mia ran ahead of Ike, leaving him still bewildered.

"H-hey! Wait up! Dammit, I let her get to me. I can't let her get too far ahead of me." Ike increased his speed as well, and follow Mia down the first corridor. As he caught up to her, he saw her go toe to toe with a lanceman. "I'll cover you!" Ike sprung into action, readying his blade but abruptly stopped when he saw what happened next.

The lanceman thrust his spear forward, aiming for an instant kill at the heart. Mia quickly sidestepped it and almost looked like a blur. She rounded him, getting to his side and slashed her sword upwards, hitting the soldier's armpit and crippling his spear-wielding arm. She quickly finished him with one more stroke of her sword through his chest, and proceeded forward without even looking back.

'Wow, she's... pretty good actually.'

As she moved forward, Ike followed suit, watching in awe at the young woman's swordsmanship skill put to work.

The battle was nearing its end; the party reached to the end of the hallway where a dishonest looking mage was at guard with two knights at his side. Soren charged up a fire spell, quickly unleashing it upon the knight on the right, burning straight through the thick armor guarding his body. Titania and Oscar took the knight on the right, with Oscar crippling the knight's good arm and Titania solidly thrusting her spear through the man's chest.

Ike and Mia surrounded the leader, Ike taking the mage's right side and Mia his left. Ike quickly dodged a fireball by rolling to his right and retaliated with his own sword thrust, electing a cry from the man as Ike effectively stopped him from casting magic. Mia swept below him, making him trip and fall to the ground. Mia delivered the final blow with a slash through his chest, ending the battle.

The team all panted and huffed, fatigued by the recent battle. Ike saw Soren pick up the leader's fallen tome, clearly pleased by the lack of its use, and pocketed it for future battle. Mia waved to Ike outside the doorway, beckoning him to join her outside. Ike complied, taking his time getting to her.

"Hey Ike! Great job out there!" Mia was practically yelling at point blank range from Ike. She put on a big smile, and raised her hand up for a high-five. Ike amused her, and returned the gesture. "Oh yeah, by the way, you gotta show me some of your skills! You looked really impressive out there!"

"Maybe some other time, we gotta get moving. Greil's waiting." Ike replied. Mia nodded, giving a determined look before blasting off without Ike's consent.

"Hey wait!" Ike put out a hand to reach her, hoping that it would somehow tell her to slow down. He finally lowered his arm, realizing his futile attempt. "Man this girl's a handful."

* * *

The sun was almost completely hidden behind the mountains by the time the mercenaries set up camp. At camp, they elected to rest for the night near a river a couple miles away from the fort. The team all dispersed after camp was set up; some went to eat, others went to rest. Ike however chose to do neither. He decided it was best to mull over his thoughts at the riverside, where he could get some peace and quiet.

Ike rested on a flat rock right beside the river, where he could see the fish swim by and hear the water trickling downriver. He looked around for a bit, noticing the entire scene was painted orange. The sun was setting soon, and he should be heading back; yet, he decided to stay a little while longer. He thought about the last few weeks, and how fast it was moving; how a few weeks ago they were just a band of mercenaries taking odd jobs here and there, and how they were now escorting a princess from a former kingdom. He just wanted everything to go back to normal, to avoid this change in his life. But it was inevitable; he knew his life had to change sooner or later, but he couldn't help but at least hope that it wouldn't.

Ike closed his eyes, hoping to relax a few more moments before returning to camp. His peace was broken by a rustle in the brush behind him, and he immediately set his gaze upon the mysterious figure. The figure slowly approached, until the light was just bright enough to reveal that it was the new recruit, Mia.

"Hey Ike! How's it going? Your father told me you might be here, I was looking for you all day!"

Ike shifted his position for his body to fully face Mia, who was a few feet away from him. He also noticed she was holding something behind her back.

"Oh, I just wanted to take my mind off some things for a while. Everything is moving so damn fast I can't wrap my head around it." Ike rubbed the back of his head, obviously frustrated on the matter.

"Oh, I see. Well, you know what I do when I need to clear my head? Spar!" Mia revealed the two items behind her back to be two wooden training swords. "Sorry, but if I'm gonna be working with you, I need to know whether or not you know your way around a sword." She dropped one in front of Ike and readied the second one while backpedaling until she was a good twenty feet away. She put up her stance, all the while smiling with a fierce essence to it. Ike hesitantly picked up his sword, unsure if he should spar with her.

"Are you sure? Not many people want to spar with me in the first place." Ike warned her. It wasn't that he didn't want to battle with the purple haired woman, it was that every opponent he's sparred with ended up with bruises.

"Why wouldn't I be? Anyways, we can talk later, now's the time to fight!" She rushed forward, hoping to catch Ike off-guard. The man quickly deflected her attack with his arm guard, then retaliated with a forward thrust, making the young swordswoman distance herself.

'I should see how she fights before I attack back.' Ike mentally noted, remembering a lesson he learned from Greil when he was younger.

She came in for another attack, this time at his side. He quickly put up his sword to block the attack, and then shoved her away with his free arm.

'She's pretty aggressive, but she's fast. She comes in for a quick attack and then backs off before I can land a good hit. If I can just get one good hit in, I can-" His momentary thought was interrupted when Mia yelled across the battlefield.

"Hey! Why aren't you fighting back?! Going easy on a girl, are ya? Well, I'll show you how skilled I really am!" Ike didn't sense any venom behind her declaration; all he sensed was increased determination. She quickly rushed forward once more, but with much more speed and finesse than she had before. Ike steeled his stance, his sword in front to block an attack from the front or sides. When she was close, Ike went in for a good diagonal slash, hoping to end the battle in one fell swoop. Mia anticipated it, and sidestepped him, now on his side.

'Ha, told you not to underestimate me!' She thought as she thrust her sword forward, using almost the same strategy she used before at the fort. During which, Mia had a confident smile, thinking she finally had gotten the blue-haired wall.

However, she was to be disappointed. Ike used his left hand to deflect the sword with his brace, then used her momentum to catch her wrist, preventing any further attacks. He twisted her arm enough to prevent retaliation but not enough to do any real harm. Ike raised his sword to her neck, thus ending the spar.

"Heh, looks like I win." He released her arm, which immediately dropped her sword. She took a knee next to him, which made Ike concerned. "Oh my god, did I hurt you? I didn't mean it, I swear! Are you okay?!" Ike was now on the ground next to her, practically panicking at his blunder.

"I-I'm okay, it's just... it's just..." Mia was silent for a second, then she lifted up her head with incredible speed, now inches away from Ike's face. "That was amazing! Oh my god, I've never had someone beat me so convincingly before! I thought I almost had you for a second there, hehe."

The two stood up, brushing the dirt off their clothes. "So you're okay then?"

"Yep, never been better! In fact, looking back, we should be partners!"

"Wait, what?"

Mia hooked her arm around one of Ike's, causing the ranger to blush. "Yeah, I mean, our fighting styles totally compliment each other. Also, you have just gotta teach me some of your moves!"

"Okay now hold on a second here!"

"Nope, no time, you're teaching me some moves back at camp, and there won't be any arguing!" She unhooked her arms and grabbed Ike's collar, dragging him forcibly back to camp. He was surprised at the sheer amount of strength she had.

"Hmmm, now that I think about it, we can't be partners can we, since you beat me. Oh, I know! I'll be your protégé, and you'll be my boss!"

"What?!"

"Yep, I'm under your care, _boss._" She bounced the name around her head, liking the sound of it and laughed while still dragging Ike.

Meanwhile, the blue-haired teenager was working on getting himself free, feeling that his legs were getting too familiar with being dragged around. He contemplated how he was once a humble mercenary living with his father and friends, and now he was protecting a royal heir to the Crimean throne _and _getting forcibly made a teacher to a young and upcoming swordswoman.

'It can't be that bad, can it?' His face turned into dread, and now was panicking in his mind. His movements became more erratic in hope of escape, all the while Mia laughing contentedly back to camp.

**Mia Rank Support C Acquired!**

* * *

**A/N: **Welp, there's the first chapter for Mia. This chapter was actually supposed to be uploaded on Wed., I even set aside a good 2-3 hours for writing it. About 2 hours in, I had the chapter nearly finished and had went to the bathroom. My computer decided it was the perfect time to restart, and I lost a good 2 hours of work put into it, and I haven't had time to write till today. I definitely think the first draft was better, but oh well. Anyways, enough of my complaining, more about the chapter itself.

I wanted to make Ike more or less completely clueless when it came to women, so I hope that I can portray him well in the future chapters. For Mia, I wanted the typical personality given to her, but I also wanted her to a be a little flirty when it came to Ike. Hell, SOMEONE'S gotta give the two some sexual tension. Also, any tips on how to write fighting scenes are appreciated, cause I absolutely suck at writing them.

Anyways, I bid you all a fine evening.


	6. Mia Rank B

**Mia Support Rank B**

* * *

As the camp settled down, trainers were set for anyone wishing to maintain his or her combat abilities. The camp had been at peace for a while now, everyone opting to take a break from recent events. The Greil Mercenaries had just finished off a bandit group that the apostle ordered to be arrested, if possible. Unfortunately, they didn't respond too kindly, leaving some of the mercenaries with injuries. At the center of the camp stood Ike, who apparently was whipping their new recruit Makalov into shape.

"No no no, you're holding your blade all wrong. If the enemy catches you like that, you'll get run through. Here, hold it like this." As scripted, Ike held his blade with both hands and kept it sternly in front of him. It allowed him to catch enemy attacks from the right or left, making it a perfect defensive stance.

"Aw, c'mon. When am I gonna need this? It's not like I'm fighting on the ground or anything." Makalov shrugged off Ike's advice, putting an arm around the bluenette and letting his sword hand go limp. Ike quickly shook him off, ready to chastise him.

"You won't need it on a horse, but what happens if you're caught without it? They could slay it and you'd be done for. It's vital you learn the basics before you march off headlong into the enemy."

"Whatever, I just gotta keep my horse safe! We'll be like best bros, me and my horse!" The pink knight jokingly responded, then prompted to walk off with a wave. "This training thing just isn't me, I'm gonna go see what's in the mess tent. You're too high strung man; gotta learn when to take a break."

Ike looked back at him with annoyance; he had little respect for those who would mock hard work, and quickly shrugged it off. By the end of this campaign, he was going to teach Makalov good work ethic.

He turned back to the trainers, and readied his wooden blade. He went through the usual drills: thrusts, cuts, fakes, etc. After a short while, Ike's stoic face turned into a frown, realizing that he was getting lonely.

It wasn't always like this, Mia was usually there to train with him. After their initial establishment as "Boss" and "Disciple", the two had spent an increasingly amount of time together. He had already admitted to himself that he was at least attracted to her physically, but brushed it off; romance can wait until after the war.

The days of happily training, eating, and spending time with Mia eventually slowed down. Word around the camp had been that Mia had found a new "boyfriend" of sorts. Ike responded with disbelief, that is, until he saw them together.

He relaxed his sword arm and looked toward the mess tent, where Rhys and Mia were taking exit. The two had been training together more and more, even though the priest hadn't been able to handle a blade. Even though he couldn't believe they were a "thing" as the others said they were, he did notice that Mia looked surprisingly content with a training partner that was no where near her level.

Ike quickly averted his gaze back to the trainers, readying his blade once more. He tightened his grip on the wooden sword, his hands turning red from the pressure. Something in him arose when he saw the two together, a feeling he had never felt before. Ike sprinted toward the training dummy, and swiftly brought the sword down on the dummy's shoulder. The dummy had broke in half with splinters protruding around the connection of the two pieces it once had.

The blue-haired ranger huffed, and threw his training sword lazily into the equipment box and made his way back to his tent to change, leaving the shattered dummy behind.

* * *

"You promise you'll stay safe?"

"Yeah, don't worry about it boss! I just gotta put to work what you taught me, and this fight will be cake!"

"Well, just be careful okay?" Ike and Mia locked eyes for a moment, the former showing a glimmer of worry. The last the he wanted was to lose another person dear to him.

Behind them, the mercenary group was getting ready to commence the capture of the rogue laguz in the ruins. The apostle had sent them, of course, on her accord. Ike, Soren, and Titania had been suspicious of it, but if they were going to get any aid they would have to abide.

Mia and Ike stood still for a few moments before the former broke the moment, lightly patting her cheeks to mentally prepare herself.

"Alright, I'm pumped! Let's do this!" She drew her sword and thrust it upwards before she broke off to lead her own division of soldiers. Ike looked longingly at her before Oscar brought him back to reality with a squeeze on the shoulder.

"Well aren't you two getting comfortable? You know, it's pretty darn obvious you like her by now. I'm pretty sure everyone in the camp knows, minus Mia, of course." Oscar gave a devilish smile; this was one of the few things he could poke fun of about Ike. "Why don't you tell her already, holding it in longer will only decrease your chances."

"I'm not so sure she returns the affection." Ike pulled out his steel sword, feeling its weight before finding the right amount of strength, and let his arm relax. He looked back at Oscar, "It's war anyway, I don't have time for such matters. Getting the princess help and making sure we get through this safely is more important than my wants and needs." Ike marched off, yelling out orders to his own men before leading them down the sand dune.

"I hope he finds the courage soon, or else his chance might go away." Oscar put on a face of worry, before heading back to the caravan.

* * *

At the center of the battle stood Mia and Ike who were back to back. Both Mia's division and Ike's were split up, the rogue laguz flanking them from the side and separating them from their respective allies. They stood alone as a few of them approached, two tigers and three hawks.

"You got my back?" Ike tilted his head back to look at Mia, who had an unwavering gaze set on the two laguz barreling straight toward her.

"Only if you got mine!" The purplette grinned before readying her sword, prepping herself for the accelerating mass of muscle attacking her. Ike returned the affection before he turned his head back to his opponents, three hawks and one tiger.

'Damn, why couldn't Astrid and Gatrie be with us...' Ike noticed in the distance Astrid and Gatrie holding off the few hawk stragglers harassing Mist and Rhys. 'Oh, right, that's why." The ranger clenched his teeth as the tiger laguz approached him; the three other hawks were circling around them, waiting for the opportune moment to strike.

Ike's opponent leaped at him, its claws catching the sharp part of his blade and almost disarming him. A quick knee to the stomach made him retreat while Ike followed, not letting his chance to strike go to waste. As the laguz recoiled back onto the sand, Ike quickly brought his steel down onto it, cutting into its shoulder. The receiver barely managed to dodge before rounding Ike, the former with his back to Mia still holding off her own. The laguz once more leaped at Ike, this time latching onto his shoulders. Ike quickly rolled backwards and kicked his opponent off, sending the tiger flying until it collided with the ground. While his opponent was recovering, Ike quickly got up and darted toward his target. With one fell swoop he jumped and brought down his steel on the enemy's belly, incapacitating him almost permanently. Finished with his duel, Ike wiped the sweat off his brow and looked back at Mia.

She was heavily panting with sweat and blood covering the side of her face. Mia withdrew the blade she had on her opponent's shoulder, the latter lay still and defeated. She noticed Ike holding his gaze on her and faced his direction. With a grin on her face, Mia threw up a thumbs up, satisfied with the outcome of her training.

Ike smiled back at her, but stopped when he noticed something approaching behind her. It was getting increasingly bigger, until he noticed it was one of the hawks that had been circling them. He quickly broke out into a sprint, startling Mia who was still standing beside her opponent.

"Mia! Get down!" Ike ran as fast as he could, but it was too late. Mia turned her back and was clipped at the stomach, sporting a large gash. She fell backwards, wincing at the pain and covered the wound with her hands. The hawk proceeded to u-turn and sped once more toward the two swordsmen. Fueled by rage, Ike put up his sword and cleaved its wing in two, crippling him. Afterwards, Ike ran toward his partner's side to ensure her safety. He knelt down next to her and cradled her head into his arm.

"Mia! Hold on, I'll buy you some time until help gets here. Don't move a muscle!"

"Boss... You know it's gonna take a lot more to take me down... right?" The swordswoman chuckled at the end, but coughed out blood immediately.

"Don't speak, it'll only put more strain on your body. I'm gonna get you out of this, even if it kills me!" He got up from the sand and prepped his sword. The two hawks were still circling them, but it appeared as if they were itching to attack. Ike looked around, trying to find any sign of help. The only two close enough were Gatrie and Astrid, but it'd be a while before they could get here.

Tired of waiting, the two hawks swooped down on both sides of Ike. The end of his sword caught the beak of one and deflected it, while the other grazed his shoulder, leaving a wound large enough to weaken his arm. The laguz recoiled back before going in for another strike, this time in different locations. One hawk tried to cull Ike's head, but saw no results as his steel sword caught the roof of his mouth. The other however struck directly in his stomach, causing Ike to balance himself by planting his sword in the ground. He knelt down, legs weak from the constant barrage of attacks. The ranger's vision dimmed, his blood loss becoming too much. The two hawks saw his weakness, and went for one last decisive strike. Feeling the end draw near, Ike closed his eyes, hoping that someone, anyone would be able to reach them in time. As the wind cutting noise drew closer, he heard a shriek.

His eyes burst open and he saw an arrow protruding out of the hawk's neck, causing it to crash into the nearby dune. The silver uniform and long black hair indicated it was none other than Astrid that had saved him. Gatrie, clad in his signature blue armor, ran behind Ike and body blocked the last hawk's attack. He promptly skewered the laguz through the chest, grounding it before he finished him off.

"Heh, didn't think I'd be the one to save you commander, but I suppose one of these days it was my time to shine." Gatrie had a smug look on his face and ran over to help Mia while Astrid dismounted her horse and held Ike from falling.

"Thanks... guys..." Ike fell from Astrid's arms onto the sand, finally passing out from his grievous wound.

* * *

Ike's eyes slowly opened, adjusting to the lighting in the room, or lack thereof. He figured it was past midnight, the sound of marching outside had dulled and only the occasional patrol passing through remained. He sat up in his bed before grimacing at the pain in his stomach, making him fall back down. It all came back to him: the fight, Mia getting hurt, Astrid and Gatrie saving them, how he ended up here. He traced his fingers on the bandages over his wound. Figuring he was well enough to walk, he sat up on his bed and looked around.

The tent he had been cared in was modest, incredibly lacking in furniture except the two beds occupying the room, a chair, and a table where medical supplies and a notebook lie. Ike noticed the tent flap had been flapping slightly in the wind, it being slightly ajar. He got up, put on the slippers left for him and headed for the flap before he noticed a slight rustle in the other bed; it was occupied. The ranger squinted his eyes in the darkness before he noticed the purple hair that labeled the occupant, and strolled over and grabbed a chair to sit on. After plopping down onto the chair, he spent a few moments looking at her before he brushed her hair with his right hand.

"Mia... I know we haven't spent a lot of time together recently, and I probably looked really stupid out there in today's fight, but I just wanted you to know that I care about you. I thought I was strong enough to protect everyone, but today's fight only told me how weak I really am. I'll work harder, I promise, and... I'm sorry I failed you."

He retracted his hand and watched over her a little longer.

* * *

The swordswoman opened her eyes and spent a few minutes to let reality come back to her. She was drowsy from the lack of activity in the past twelve hours, and was just then awoken. She looked at the room diluted, not taking in any details of it at all. What she did notice was the big blue haired man sleeping on her bed. The memories all came rushing back to her, but she didn't process any of it. The only thing she remembered was Ike's moment of heroism, the moment in which he took a last stand for her and defended her with all his will and might.

Mia smiled at the man with his head pillowed by his arms and a line of drool coming from his mouth. She knew she hadn't spent as much time as she would like with her boss, but there was this feeling inside that prevented her from confronting him. Deep regret settled into her heart knowing that either of their lives could end at any point. She wanted to spend more time with him, before they couldn't see each other anymore.

"Didn't know the big oaf cared about me so much, although sleeping next to a woman without her permission is weird. It's sweet though."

After her brief train of thought, she sat up from her bed and looked once more upon Ike. She leaned down and kissed his cheek, holding her lips there for a few seconds. After retreating, she felt the heat rise up to her cheeks before collapsing back onto the bed. She slowly let sleep take her, all the while sporting a big grin on her face.

* * *

**A/N:** Well, I'm back from the dead everybody! The past few weeks I've been dealing with some personal problems, and I don't think weekly updates are possibly before I improve myself. Not to say updates wont come weekly or even maybe sooner, just that the schedule might be a little more unstable. I'm not proud of my current mindset, and I don't think I'll be able to properly write at a quick pace until I fix it. Until then, unstable updates. Hoped you guys like this chapter, it might seem out of place because of my weeks of absence, but hopefully it was to your liking. Anyways, I bid you all a happy evening.


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